The presence of a specific diploma may justify a difference in treatment between employees
Publié le 14 octobre 2022 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
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The mere difference in qualifications does not justify a difference in treatment between employees performing the same functions, unless there is a specific qualification attesting to particular knowledge relevant to the performance of the function concerned.
This is what the Court of Cassation said in a judgment of the Social Chamber on September 14, 2022.
An employee was dismissed by her employer. It brought an action before the court challenging that dismissal, alleging infringement of the principle of equal treatment. She argued that one of her colleagues, who held the same position, had a better classification.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s application on the ground that she had not adduced evidence of unequal treatment in pay between her and her colleague. The court also held that this colleague possessed a diploma in order to dismiss the motion. The employee lodged an appeal in cassation.
The Court of Cassation quashed the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
The judgment holds that the employer, in order to justify unequal treatment, had to justify that the diploma held by the applicant’s colleague attested to ‘special knowledge’ which was useful for the exercise of the function held. The diploma alone cannot therefore justify a difference in treatment between two employees occupying the same function.
